Several events lead to the imprisonment of women and men challenging
the American colonial regime in Puerto Rico: Students strike in San Juan when teachers
are ordered to teach in English. Students as young as 14 years of age are arrested
and permanently expelled from school.

Similar events unfold throughout the island. Students are expelled from the Escuela
Superior Central. The Instituto de José de Diego is founded, emphasizing teaching
in Spanish.

March

American citizenship is imposed on all Puerto Ricans.

May

U.S. President Woodrow Wilson signs compulsory military service act into law. The
military draft or Servicio Militar Obligatorio is forced on Puerto Rican men.

July

Draft registration begins in Puerto Ricoís seven districts. In the first two
years, 5,041 Puerto Ricans are declared delinquent and 330 are arrested. 229 are
imprisoned for an average of 33 days. Some receive longer terms and are sent to federal
prisons in the United States.

Journalist Vicente Balbas Capo is arrested and sentenced to 7 years imprisonment
for using his newspaper El Heraldo de las Antillas to fight the draft, American
citizenship and the americanization of Puerto Rico. He appeals to the First Circuit
Court in Boston and wins. He rejects American citizenship.

Labor leader Florencio Romero refuses to be drafted and is imprisoned in Atlanta,
Georgia. He is accused of telling workers
to fight the draft and the imposition of American citizenship. Romero will later
be a founder of the Nationalist Party.